Shae-Lynn Penrose is a lot of things. She's a single mom, a retired cop and the only taxi driver in the small town of Jolly Mount, Pennsylvania. She's also a tough-talking, hard-as-nails chick with a killer wardrobe, a keen sense of justice, a tendency to pick a fight and a backstory a mile long.

Part of that long and sometimes painful history is Shae-Lynn's little sister, Shannon, who disappeared without a trace from their small coal mining town many years before. Shae-Lynn has always suspected that their father, a bitterly unhappy coal miner with a recreational habit of beating up his little girls, finally let his abuse go too far and killed Shannon. That theory has to be revised, though, when long-lost Shannon shows up on Shae-Lynn's doorstep --- nine months pregnant, with no boyfriend or husband in sight.

Shannon isn't entirely alone, though; in her wake comes a rich Connecticut housewife, a suave New York lawyer and a Russian mobster --- all looking for Shannon. What has Shannon been up to? What does she want --- or need --- from Shae-Lynn? Does her arrival mean more trouble for Shae-Lynn? Or will it finally force her to confront some other demons in her past?

Although the candy-colored cover art and pun-filled title, sharp-tongued protagonist and mystery plot might make you think that SISTER MINE is aimed at, say, fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, Tawni O'Dell's novel is far more sophisticated than it appears at first glance. Sure, there are plenty of funny situations --- O'Dell has a knack for writing fast-paced, vivid action scenes and other dramatic or comic interactions --- but Shae-Lynn's observations lend insight, and even wisdom, to the book's portrayals of place and of its many finely-drawn secondary characters.

Foremost among these are the "Jolly Mount Five," a group of five miners who survived a highly-publicized mine explosion several years earlier. These men (and their wives and friends), deeply scarred emotionally and physically, help form a deeper, richer and sadder portrait of the way of life in a coal mining town. They have dealt with the trauma, the fleeting fame and the too-small monetary rewards in various ways, from starting (and mismanaging) a "celebrity restaurant" to drinking away the memory of an amputated limb. Shae-Lynn's taxi-driving job --- not to mention her burgeoning relationship with one of the men --- enables her to reflect on how these five men (now considering suing the mine for damages) represent the town --- and the industry --- in general.

Like her character, Tawni O'Dell left Pennsylvania for a while, only to return to the land of her youth. Her affection for, and at times outrage on behalf of, the landscape and people of this overlooked, underappreciated region shines through everything she writes. Her debut novel, BACK ROADS, was an Oprah's Book Club pick. With its exploration of family, self and place, SISTER MINE deserves much the same audience.